1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hand tools, and more specifically to a hand-held, modular tool for use in cleaning, restoring and removing grout.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Tiled surfaces incorporate interstitial grout, which often requires cleaning, restoration and removal, if replacement is warranted. The array of possible tile patterns for the walls and floors of bathrooms, kitchens and foyers accounts for a variety of grout joint characteristics. Available tools for use with grout, including well-known grout saws, lack the versatility to accommodate grout joints having larger surface areas, limiting them to use with thin, hard-to-reach grout joints. U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,966 discloses one such grout saw, having a single thin blade that engages an angled handle.
The grout-cleaning tool of U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,588 comprises a pear-shaped handle and a single thin saw blade that is secured by two screws in a slot bifurcating the small end of the handle. The grout-cleaning devices of '966 and '588 suffer from structural and functional inadequacies for their intended purpose. Often, the blades of these devices are much thinner than the width of the grout joint itself, making the devices difficult to control and prone to straying from the grout joint, thus scratching, marring or otherwise damaging the adjacent tile surfaces. Furthermore, the single thin blade and handle designs of these devices makes grout-related tasks clumsy, tedious, uncomfortable and exhausting for a user of these devices.
In light of the shortcomings of the above inventions and patents, there is a need for a modular grout-removal tool that not only accommodates grout joints of varying physical characteristics, but also affords a user sufficient control of the device so as to prevent damaging adjacent tile surfaces. Also, there is a need for a modular grout-removal tool designed to simplify this task for a person using such a device.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.